General manager Ron Hextall called his agent to deliver news that he wanted to end Hartnell’s seven-year run as a Flyer, five of them as a 20-goal scorer.

Hartnell was totally blown away hearing a deal had been worked out with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

He was mad at Hextall, promoted just last month from assistant GM.

Not want him? This really stung Hartnell because he'd developed a real love for the Flyers and Flyers fans. Plus, he was just one season through a six-year, $28.5-million contract extension.

Leave now?

Hartnell had the power to stay right where he was in the form of a no-move clause.

But stay where he’s not wanted by his bosses?

Hartnell had a decision to make.

He talked to Kimmo Timonen, his teammate the last 13 seasons in Nashville and Philadelphia.

He talked to Jody Shelley, a former Flyers teammate and close friend who now is a broadcaster for Columbus.

He talked to his parents, other teammates and friends.

He did a lot of thinking, too.

“Since Hextall was named GM, I think he kind of wanted to put a fingerprint on what he wants going forward and his style of play,” Hartnell said in a conference call. “You kind of knew something was coming, but I never thought in a million years that it would be me going.”

Hartnell made a final decision on Sunday, then called Hextall on Monday morning.

Hextall didn’t mention anything about not wanting Hartnell in his Monday conference call with Flyers writers, but Hartnell talked about it at length later in the day in his first interview since the trade.

“I guess four or five days ago now, my agent got a call from Hexy and he said there were a couple teams that acquired about me,” Hartnell said. “I think he hummed and hawed about maybe my role, my position in Philadelphia. I think he decided it was probably best for me to move on from the Flyers.”

That’s also when Hartnell learned that Hextall wasn’t just thinking of moving him, but that a deal already had been worked out.

“To be honest, I was pretty shocked at first,” Hartnell said. “I was upset. I was a little angry. I took a few days to look at the situation and it was hard. It wasn’t easy. It was a lot of emotions.

“I probably decided (on Sunday) that Columbus is an up-and-coming team with a lot of great players. I decided it was the right decision for me to go to a team very, very excited to have me and (leave) a team that basically said I was done there.”

Making his decision, Hartnell was happy and sad at the same time.

“I don’t think I ever wanted to leave Philly,” he said. “That’s why I signed a (contract) extension there a couple years ago. There’s been a lot of great times there, obviously a lot of great friends … my best buddy in hockey, Kimmo, playing almost a thousand games with him.

“It took me a few days to comprehend things. Looking at Columbus and what they’ve done in the last few years as an organization, where they’re going, I’m really, really excited to go. I think they beat us more than we beat them last year and it was always a tough game. You were always getting checked, always getting hit. … I was like, ‘Geez, who are all these turds running around?'"

The Blue Jackets made the playoffs just once in their first 12 years of existence, but after missing them by just a single point in 2012-13, they qualified this season and gave the second-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins a scare before losing a first-round series in six games.

“I was watching the Pittsburgh–Columbus series,” Hartnell said. “They had just as much chance to win that series as Pittsburgh did. They were really disappointed and that’s a great feeling coming from the team when they’re not just happy making it there.

“They want to win. And that’s me. All I want to do is win. That’s why I play the game. And I think Columbus has a great chance going forward.”

Still, deciding to leave the Flyers came down to feeling unwanted. A top-line player the last three seasons, Hartnell was told he'd have a reduced role if he didn’t accept this trade.

“(Hextall) had a different vision of the club and their style of play going forward,” Hartnell said. “You want to be in a place with a team that loves you and wants you to be part of their organization. Talking to the guys in Columbus … it was pretty plain to see that they were pretty excited to have me.”

Hartnell was loved by legions of Flyers fans for his style after arriving in Philadelphia along with Timonen in a June 2007 trade from Nashville, his home for his first six NHL seasons. He was a power forward who got under opponent’s skin and he scored goals, popping in a career-best 37 in 2011-12, a season in which he was an All-Star for the first time.

“A lot of really, really good memories,” Hartnell said, referring to his time in Philadelphia. “The fans were nothing but supportive of me and my ups and downs."

Playing the 2011-12 season on a line with Claude Giroux, now their captain and a 2014 Hart Trophy finalist, plus all-time great right wing Jaromir Jagr was one of his top Flyer thrills.

The best came in the spring of 2010 when the Flyers, after winning a shootout in their final regular-season game to make the playoffs, advanced all the way to the Stanley Cup Final before losing to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games.

“That was some of the best hockey that I played in my career,” Hartnell said. “I really have nothing bad to say about Philadelphia at all. Sometimes I think it’s time to move on and try something new. It’s pretty clear that a team that wants you is a better place that a team that doesn’t want you.”

Hartnell is gone from the Flyers, but he’ll be seeing a lot of them because Columbus moved last season from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference’s Metropolitan Division … the same one the Flyers are in.

The Flyers will face Hartnell five times next season, three in Philadelphia and two in Columbus.

“It will be tough to see those guys, especially four or five times a year,” Hartnell said. “But I don’t think it will take long for me to get used to wearing Blue Jackets’ colors and getting out there playing for our jersey. I’m just really, really excited.”